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"I have never welcomed the weakening of family ties by politics or pressure" - Nelson Mandela."He who travels for love finds a thousand miles no longer than one" - Japanese proverb."Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence." - Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights."When people's love is divided by law, it is the law that needs to change". - David Cameron.

Monday, 10 June 2013

And what's next?

In terms of next steps, everything is leading up to the 9th July anniversary.

There are a few activities being planned :-

1/ A parliamentary lobby. We want everyone to lobby their MPs with their views on the rules, following on from today's excellent APPG report.
To help with this template letter will be ready imminently. We also hope to target certain key MPs and peers whose areas of interest and responsibility are particularly important.
(You can find your MP with contact details here - http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/ ).

Lobbying can also include faith leaders, celebrities and other influential non-politicians.

2/ A demonstration outside the Home Office on 9th July, the anniversary of the rules introduction and 'Divided Families Day'.

When: 9 July, 4pmWhere: 2 Marsham St, London SW1P 4DF

There were around 150 people last year. It'd be nice to get many more this year!

3/ A parliamentary meeting on 9th July. This will take place after the demonstration and will include a panel and discussion of the impact on the rules and next steps.
This was standing room only last year and brought a lot of different people and groups together to kick off the opposition to the rules. This year will build on that momentum.
There's a write-up here : http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/blog/2012/07/family-migration-lobby-parliament-brief

7/ Get in touch with BritCits ( http://britcits.com/ ) and the Family Immigration Alliance ( http://familyimmigrationalliance.wordpress.com/ ) to share your story.
There's still a lot of activity around building the case against the rules, even after the APPG.
Of course, making contact is also a great way for people to find ways of supporting each other as well - we've seen plenty of evidence of that over the last few months.

8/ On a more local level, there will be a public meeting in Hackney on 26th June. It is organised by Hackney Refugee and Migrant Support Group. It will be held at the CLR James Library in Dalston at 7.30 on June 26.
I will be there so it'd be nice to see some BritCits friends there.

9/ Come along to or organise a meetup! http://www.meetup.com/BritCits/
Again, this is a very good way for people to support each other, come up with ideas, share experiences, and even help each other in more practical ways.